Lords

Introduction

History and background

This is a fictional story that takes place mostly in the western part of South America, known today at or near Peru. At one time there were over 900 Indian tribes that flourished in both North and South America, long before they were discovered and their homeland was declared new. Some tribes had cities of fifty thousand or more. They traded with each other and one could travel freely from coast to coast north and south, all while the Europeans were living in mud huts. Then there came the conquest. From these individual tribes grew the Maya, the Aztec and the Inca Empires.

The west coastline of South America, including the Andes, became the Inca Empire, which was done so by conquest and peaceful means. It was to be divided and ruled by several kings that were Lord Pachacuti and masters of the land entrusted with the care and protection of their people. Upon their deaths, these Lord Kings became Gods. There were people entrusted for eternity with their mummified remains.

Then in the 1500’s came the Spanish, seeking conquest of their newly discovered land. They brought with them European diseases that wiped out 95% of some of the cities. They were outnumbered by the indigenous people, but did not have to battle for the land. Some of Lord Pachacuti Kings were cruel to their people, so they welcomed the Spanish. Their hopes that this new ruler would be better were short lived, as they also brought their own Gods and forced them on the people.

The Spanish leaders had learned from ruling their own land, and knew the only way to control people was through God. So they destroyed the mummified remains of the old gods and replaced them with their Spanish Gods. Their options were clear, become a Christian or be hacked to bits. Thousands became bits defending their gods, while others went underground protecting and hiding their true and real gods.

Before the Spanish came it is believed Lord Pachacuti King, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, had found the sacred land of Machu Picchu, in the mid 1400’s. It was far to the East deep in the Andes. It is a magical land. A structure was to be built between four mountains overlooking the Rio Urubamba River. This place is said to be as close to the heavens as the earthly king could get. This Lord King fought the Spanish and their guns as he retreated into these mountain ranges and was successful. Lord Pachacuti King fought the Spanish unsuccessfully and then disappeared into the mountain ranges. He was the only Lord King to have survived the Spanish conquest; for slaves, gold and silver and of course the souls of his people.

Machu Picchu was the only city not discovered and destroyed by the plundering Catholic/Christian Spanish. Upon his death, Lord Pachacuti King of Machu Picchu was to have no more visits from other Lords or Kings and the city was abandoned. Lord Pachacuti King God’s mummified remains have survived to this day, but Machu Picchu was so well hidden that it lay in abandonment for hundreds of years until the last century.

It is puzzling as to why these people to this day call themselves Spanish, speak the Spanish language and pray to the Spanish Gods. And to this very day the Spanish government makes claim to any plundered gold or silver found… as Spanish, and we all accept their claims and their gods.

Can there be anything worse?

Chapter One

Lord Pachacuti’s work

The First Seven Days

Victims

The sun rises like every other day in a small hamlet far from crowds of nameless faces. Only this day is one of the better ones. Sad, but should start changes for all. It had rained last night, and the wind is out of the north so the air is clean, fresh and safer. Everyone wakes up to enjoy the bright morning and the rare sound of birds singing in the trees.

There are two small, frail looking children, Dora and Joel, playing by a stream. They go there every day to play. The girl called Dora, has only one good eye and has trouble breathing. Yet she plays in the mud with her friend unencumbered by her handicaps. As she builds a little mud house, she thinks of life when she will be all grown up, and has a husband and a home, like the one she just made.

Her playmate, Joel, is throwing rocks into the water. He has trouble walking, because his foot is deformed. The rocks he throws do not go very far, because he doesn’t have much strength. At first, we see the water is not very clean. It is brown, more like a rust color. Even the rocks are stained as well. There are no fish, and no plants grow in the water any more.

At the top of the embankment, Marie sits with her friend and strokes a white stone beside her. It is the marker for her most recent lost child. At the top of this embankment is a small cemetery. Next to the cemetery is where the stalks of corn are growing with a few scattered rows of tomato plants. It’s the community farm.

In the background we can see several small homes that follow a dirt road. This is a small village that has around 100 people that live there. It was determined awhile back by the elders, that next to the stream was the right spot for this new cemetery. The cemetery is made with humble stones and handmade toys, marking the place where so many were born and died before the age of five.

They put it next to the older cemetery, because the new cemetery is for the babies. It was believed the elders that have passed on would help keep an eye on the children now placed in their care.

There are 30 white stones on top of a small hill. Joel climbs to the top of the hill and sits next to one of the stones on this early morning. He thinks this is a better spot for throwing rocks in the rusty water.

Joel’s father, Miguel, a large man, quietly walks up to the grave yard with his hat in his hand and pays his respects to the dead. He sees the two women tending to the stones, pulling weeds and tells Joel, This is not a place to play. It is time to come and eat.

Dora and Joel come running as fast as they could run in their bare feet. They are covered in dirt and mud, wearing undisciplined smiles that filled their faces. Right behind them is Marie and her friend. Ahead of them, they can see that the whole town has turned out for this day. Every eye in town was now on Dora and Joel, as they ran up to Miguel. They have become the center of the whole village. They are the only young children that were left. Muddy hugs and dirty-faced smiles were welcomed. It’s when Joel sees the whole village he remembers that his father Miguel, is leaving.

They all met in the center of town, where tables have been set up under an old tree with lots of shade. Food was prepared for them, as well as something to drink, and extra food was packed away. The whole town has helped them, by sending them off with a good meal. It is not a party, but a somber moment. At this moment, they were united on a single point and have tried to make it festive. All were dreaming of a better future.

Miguel is handed an old metal overnight case that is scratched up and tattered, which has seen many places in its time. The elder hands the case to him and a key on a chain, to be kept around Miguel’s neck. No one says anything as they hug and shake hands. Miguel gives his boy a hug as though it were their last.

Someone says Let’s eat!

So they all dig in. Their talk about the future puts all their hopes on Miguel. The burden is now his and he knows that he must succeed for everyone, but most of all, his son.

Then Miguel and another man climb into an old truck. The floors are so rusty they can see the road under their feet. The right front fender is loose and rattles as they drive. The doors must be lifted up, in order to close and latch it. They sit on broken springs and seats that have been re-covered several times. Their packed bags rest between them, while Miguel holds the small case tight to his side. The old truck starts in a puff of blue smoke as two of the women hand each man a cloth package filled with food for the long trip. The smell of good food fills the cab.

They take off and the truck disappears in a cloud of blue smoke and road dust. Only the sound of its motor and the rattles from the right front fender can be heard as they are driving away. They have a long drive ahead of them and Miguel has put a lot of faith in this old truck.

Seven days and six nights they travel. The entire time they are arguing. Saying things like, ‘this is wrong and it’s a foolish waste of time and money.’ Miguel just smiles and reassures his friend that all will be fine.

You do not know how things will turn out and you cannot say. argues Peppy. We trusted before and they cheated us. You know this to be true.

Continuing, Miguel tries to reassure his friend, Peppy, you need to trust people sometimes, when things like this are beyond our control.

Peppy feels strongly on this point. Trust is no good. We have trusted people in the past and look where we are!

They continue the argument as they have for the past few months. After the 7th day of traveling, they are covered in a week’s worth of road dust from every road they have taken to get to this point.

Miguel smiles and says, This truck has been good to us. We’ve only broken down twice so far, and we are almost there.

Each day has been hot from the sun and cool at night. Some of the roads were paved, but this last one is full of potholes and looked seldom traveled. Signs of other people are becoming nonexistent.

As the day ends, Miguel looks at the small hand-made map in his pocket. Then he smiles, pointing to the left, That’s the one, pull in there.

They pull into the small roadside motel. Years of dirt cover the windows. Tree branches hang over the entrance touching the ground. It is old and rundown with siding boards falling off the side where they’ve parked. They sit and look at how the wood is blistered from the sun and how weeds have grown to five feet high in some places.

Are you sure this is right? asks Peppy.

Miguel replies, Yes, it is the same address and the same name I was given.

They sit and look for signs of life, and see none as they shut off the old truck, tired from its long journey. It seemed as though all three sighed from the relief of getting to their destination.

Peppy strains to see through the dirt covered windows and says, You wait here. I will go and see if this is the right place.

He gets out of the truck and slowly walks up to one of the windows to peek in. A dark figure waves him in. Peppy turns and tells Miguel he will go in. Peppy walks up the weathered wooden steps, over to the front door and as he’s opening it, the door creaks and looks as though it had not been used in years, but he continues on.

The dark man is brown from the sun, wearing a camouflage uniform with a rifle over his shoulder. He puts a paper into Peppy’s face, so he can read it. There before him, are both Miguel’s and Peppy’s names with a key for room number 238. The man just stares as Peppy slowly picks up the key and then the man points the way as Miguel joins them. As Peppy looks down the hall to see where he was pointing, the man turns and walks away. They both stand and stare at his back as he slowly disappears out the back door and into the bush, leaving only the sound of a few flies behind him.

Peppy wants to check out the room first and tells Miguel to wait until he knows it is safe. Running down the center of the floor of the hallway, is worn out dark red linoleum peeling up in several places revealing the planking that is exposed on each side. The plaster has fallen at the end of the musty hall, and lies in a pile on the floor. The hole in the ceiling is exposing the plaster lathing, stained with water.

The room is not much better, because the ceiling looks much the same. The walls are covered in a dark yellow, flowered print paper that is falling away in places revealing other layers of print under it. Water stains run down the outside wall, catching Peppy’s eye as he tries to look out the yellow, almost rust colored window glass.

There are two beds made up in the room. Peppy pats one making a cloud of dust. On the dresser, there are clean towels folded nicely and stacked by a dusty mirror. On the floor in the dust, Peppy spots a fresh small human bare footprint that must have been placed there at the same time as the clean towels. Peppy thinks, ‘At least there is more than just the man with the gun here, for this was made by a child or a woman, and that’s a good sign.’

The silence is broken with the sound of dripping water that Peppy, at first thinks is coming from the roof, but then follows the sound into a small room with a tub and sink.

Well, water and a bath sure would be nice. He turns the handle, rusty water comes pouring out and slowly turns to clean cool water. Well if they were going to rob us, he could have killed us by now. He walks back to the hall and waved Miguel to come in.

They do not care about overall condition of things. At this point they only want to take turns in the tub, to rinse the road dirt off of them and sleep in real beds. As the sun sets, they speak softly, because they have not heard a sound other than themselves. No cars or trucks driving by, no people, just them and the sounds of nature outside.

As they stretch out on the beds, the room slowly fills with the smell of food. They both quietly stand and peek around the corner of the doorway to find the source. As they walk down the dimly lit hallway to the main room, they find a basket filled with a warm meal and drinks sitting on a table. It, like all the floors, is covered in dust leaving more of those small bare footprints. Peppy points them out and holds up two fingers, indicating two people. Miguel slowly walks up to the back door, hoping to catch a glimpse of the owners of the prints and to thank them, he yells out, THANK YOU! But there is no reply. They sit in the dust and eat.

Miguel smiles at Peppy and says, See, I trust them. If they wanted to do us harm, they could have killed us before now. So relax and enjoy the meal. These are not bad people and they do not fear us either.

Peppy replies with anger in his eyes, If that is true then why do they not show themselves? Why hide from us like thieves in the dark?

With that said two small lights popped on giving the place a haunted, eerie, silent look of death.

Peppy looks around the room and says What kind of place is this? There has been no one on that road since we got here. We are the only ones to come here, and it looks like we are the first in a long time.

You forget the man with the gun and the two that brought us food tonight. Maybe they just don’t want to be seen. Stop worrying and remember, we will sleep in real beds tonight, replies Miguel with his warm smile.

Chapter Two

A Road Less Traveled

Pathway into the Abandoned Forest

They try to sleep but it becomes difficult, for the morning is on both of their minds. The next day they prepare to leave the motel. Peppy still doesn’t like this and says so, I still say we should not do this. You are nuts to trust this person! Who are these other people and why do they hide?

Miguel smiles and shrugs his shoulders saying, The time is over for trusting. You know this to be true. How could we go back and face our people if we fail at this? Did you ever think of that?

There is still anger in Peppy’s face and when Miguel said that, it